Hi everyone,Just a quick note to wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas and hope that you all are enjoying a fantastic holiday season. I'm going to be in D.C. until Jan 2nd and hoping to update as soon as I get back home (old sleepy Ottawa!). I have done a lot of shopping so far. I'm so jealous of the American girls as there are so many outlet malls here with so many choices! I haven't bought any makeup yet but the Bebe outlet store has left a big hole in my wallet so I may wait for MAC's BBR collection for my next makeup haul.

I'm leaving for my x-mas trip to D.C. Tuesday night so this will be my last FOTD for the year. I've been so busy these last two weeks that I haven't had chance to go x-mas shopping at all! That's all gonna get done tomorrow. This is the look I wore to my husband's aunt x-mas party last night. I meant for it too look wintery, hope it did! Hope everybody wil have a merry x-mas and I will be updating again on Jan 3rd.

I tried this reverse eyeliner look I've been meaning to do for the longest time. I wore this to work so I didn't want to make it too dramatic. My husband said I looked like Cleopatra! Lol, I don't think men really get makeup.

I know, I know! I do too much purples! It's just that purple is the non brainer eye makeup for me. I wore this look to the Festival of Season Gala that my husband had helped organize. The Mayor of Ottawa was there too. Though you know I really wanted to punch him as we're having bus drivers strike her in Ottawa and I kinda see it the mayor's responsibility to resolve the issue and he hasn't done much about it. In fact I saw many ppl give him annoyed looks last night.

Anyway, on to the FOTD. I know there are lotsa products, but it literally took me 10 mins to finish this look:

I've been very busy with work this week so I haven't had a chance to update my blog. Things are just crazy in my office now as it is the end of the year. I will be away for about 10 days during the holidays so I need to make sure that there are no loose ends left.

I just thought I post my wish list from the MAC perm line as of now. I actually haven't been paying a lot of attention to the LE stuff since Cult of Cherry and trying to focus on the perm line, there are some beautiful gems in there, trust me!

Pro pigmentsGrape (I have a sample of this and I'm running out)Clear Sky Blue

I'm hoping to stick to my perm list and avoid most of the upcoming LE collections. It might be a little bit hard with the Brunette, Blonde and Redhead collection but we will see :)

I also placed an order with Head2Toe website for some ChinaGlaze and Essie nail polishes. I'm a big nailpolish addict but have been wearing OPI for too long so I thought of expanding my horizon. I have placed and order for the following:

I did another red lips look this time with my beloved So Scarlet. I love Port Red but i think I like So Scarlet even more as it's a deeper red and the amplified texture is so much better than the frost. I wore this to my company's x-mas party last night. I actually had my professional practice exam at 2:00 pm on saturday (this is the exam you write to become a professional engineer in Ontario) so I had to go to the exam all dressed up as my company's party was right after the exam :/

Ok, so I'm on a row with my warm colours. I think the wonderfully cold and -26 deg weather we're having these days is making me want to wear warm toned makeup. I also used my Mehron Palette again today. It's the first time I'm using it under eyeshadows as opposed to pigments and there's still no creasing. I'm so going back after x-mas to get the Pastel Palette! Oh, and I'm not too happy with the blending above the crease, but I kinda got lost admiring the colours and then was running late for work so I just left it as is!

I'm still stuck with this wonderful flue :/ However, yesterday I received my new pigments in the mail. Another Temptette (Shayla) and I decided that we swap some of our pigments and I received my share yesterday. The colours are beautiful. I have a lot of purples, blue and pinks so I chose some of her green/gold/copper colours and I'm so happy I did :) So this is a look I did with some of the new pigments. Shayla, this is dedicated to you, I won't let the flue stop me from playing with my new beauties :)

I've been having a lil bit of a rough week. First the stupid burn I got and after that, I caught the flue. I spent the entire yesterday in bed with all the annoying signes of cold; earache, headache, sore throat....:(

But I'm a little bit better today so I decided to do a review of my beloved Mehron Palette. I got the Tropical Palette from a stage makeup/clown store here in Ottawa. I start with the swatches:

I'm in love! Thes colours are all water activated and I've been using my fingers (wet) to apply them to my lid as a base for my eyeshadows and pigments. There is a tiny brush provided in the palette but I haven't used it yet. These colours definitely make your eyeshadows pop! I'm in love with the purple, red and the two greens. One advice I would give is to definitely let these dry once you applied them before packing on the eyeshadow/pigment. If they dry properly, they make an awesome base for even the dullest colours and do not crease (well, at least not on me). The one thing you want to be careful is not to wear these if it's raining outside. The same way they're activated with water, they're also de-activated with water and will start to run.

I'm extremly hppy with these though. The palette was about $45 Canadian which will make each colour about $7. I think this is an awesome price compared to MAC coloured bases (paints, paint pots, shade sticks). I still love my MAC but the Mehron Palettes are great products for those who love colour as they come in a great rainbow of shades. I'm already thinking about getting the Pastel palette as well :)

So I did this look today and again I think my camera never does any justice to the bright looks! A few minutes after I took these pictures, I spilled hot tea on my lips, chin and neck and now they burn like hell!! Probably i can't wear l/s for a few days till i heal :( Then i came to work and been working while holding ice on my chin and lips :(

It's been snowing in Ottawa for a few days straight. I'm already tired of winter and it hasn't even really started. I did this look today to cheer me up coz it's sorta tropical. I had to use flash again as it was dark out so the colours are not as vibrant as they could have been.

FaceSame as usualStark Naked bpbPetticoat MSF(I must say that the combo of Stark Naked and Pettocoat is one of my all time fave)

I bought the Mehron Paradise AQ palette in Trpoical after seeing our lovely Jude's tutorial on Youtube. I gotta say I've only used it once but I'm very very impressed. I will write a review once I use the colours more. I'm already thinking about going back and getting the pastel palette as well. So here's what i used for this look

So MAC has put out two new collections within the last couple of weeks: Monogram (MAC's anual couture collection) and Metal Urge. Guess what? I have not bought one single item from either of these collections! I know it's shocking to me too!!! I think I'm at a point where I realize I probably have enough makeup. It's weird but I think my MAC addiction is dying (if that's even possible). At least I think that I may be focusing more on the perm line and only pick up LE things that are extremely unique.

Now I wanted to try the new Metal Urge creme shadows but then I hear that they have the same formulation as last year's crap shadows. Those bitches creased on me like no tomorrow so I returned one and gave away the other. The pigments look kinda boring to me except for Spiritualize so I may get a sample of that later. I have 12 full jars of pigments and everything else is sample size. The liquid last liners I'm not a fan of at all, especially hate the brush they come with so this collection was an easy skip for me.

The Monogram collection looked interesting (package-wise) when I looked at the pics online. However, I saw the collection if person today and the packaging doesn't look as good as I thought. Also, I really liked the red lipstick and was going to get it, but I have three red MAC lipsticks (Port Red, So Scarlet and Russian Red) and though I love all three, there are not too many occasions where I can wear red lipstick. So I came to my senses and skipped this collection as well.

So this was kinda my frustration for today. Though perhaps I should be happy as I can now save more money toward other pretty things and also get a chance to play with my existing stash. We shall see...

I think that Blue Brown pigment is underrated. It's such a versatile colour. I always grab it when I want to do a creative look but I don't have a lot of time on my hands. It's especially gorgeous over Delft paintpot :)

All MAC unless otherwise stated.

Face

same as usual

Eversun bpb

BB Shimmer Brick in Gold

Eyes

Delft p/p as base

Blue Brown p/m wet on lid

Freshwater e/s in the crease

Vanilla p/m to highlight

Delphic f/l to line lower lashline - this is the most gorgeous liner ever!

I decided to do a glam look with red lips to go with my glamy red nails (OPI's An Affair in Red Square). I actually do this a lot, I'm a big nail polish addict and like to rotate my outfits and make up around my nails...hahah

I have a Too Faced palette from last X-mas I believe that I hadn't used for a while. I'm not too fond of the lipsticks, mainly because I don't want to take the whole palette with me to work just to touch up my lipstick after lunch. The eyeshadows and blushes are very good though. Especially this e/s called Dirt Bag. I'm definitely buying a pot when I run out of the one in my palette. So here's my look

I love MAC and their eye products but I'm also a huge NYX fan. For the fellow Canadian girls, you can find NYX in selected Pharmaplus locations. NYX products can also be purchased online at http://www.nyxcosmetics.ca/ or for a better price at Cheery Culture. I find that NYX is perhaps the best value for your money and for those folks who don't want to or don't have the means to drop cash on more expensive brands such as MAC, NYX is a great alternative. Below is some swatches and reviews of some of the NYX products I own.

NYX Jumbo Pencils

From left to right: Horseradish, Purple, Sky Blue, Rust, Pots and Pans

Generan Review: The jumbo pencils make great bases for your eyeshadows. They are very creamy and soft and go on very smooth. They colours are vibrant and come in a large selection. I'm definitely planning on getting more of these. One con though, these are very creamy and hence can crease on your lids. I usually use MAC's Bare Canvas paint as a base, Jumbo Pencil as base for my colours and then my eyeshadow or pigments. I would definitely recommend these to every colour lover out there.

General review: NYX Ultra Pearl Mania are loose pigment that can be used dry or wet. I usually use them with homemade mixing medium to get more intensity. They are similarto MAC pigments as in they're also very vibrant but they are very finely milled. You can buy these from Cherry Culture for about $1.99 most of the time. Once con is that these babies come in is very tiny bottle and has an even tinier opening. To make these more user friendly, I emptied the bottles in clear screw top jars I had bought before. My two top picks out of the ones I own are Penny and Lilac.

In conclusion, definitely look into NYX if you want quality product for less. Unlike most drugstore brands, these show up on your skin exactly as they show in the pot. Two thums up!

I have a sample of the Steel Blue pigment since last year and though I think it looks very pretty, I never used it coz it looks chunky in the jar. So I finally broke it out today and using wet, this pigment is very gorgeous, especially over a gold base. I don't think my camera does any justice to how vibrant the colour is.

It looks like so far my blog's been mostly about my looks. I really need to put some other materials in here. On the other hand I do doll up everyday pretty much, might as well share them with others here. That way hopefully I can inspire someone out there and also I won't forget my own look.